


Rule of Three

by Grumpy Gamers and Vibrant Colors (CantolopeJeevas)



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Crushes, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7177748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CantolopeJeevas/pseuds/Grumpy%20Gamers%20and%20Vibrant%20Colors
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One, and Brian has his interest piqued. Two, and he realizes that maybe his interest is reciprocated. Three, and he makes a move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rule of Three

Brian’s office at the university was almost a sacred place to him. It was a beacon of hope within a mad world. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but it still stood. If he wanted to escape his hectic life as a physics professor, all he had to do was slip inside and lock the door. No problems. No worries. Just him and blissful solitude.

When he found someone already in there, prodding at the shelf full of knick-knacks and tangible memories, he was a little bit put off, to say the least.

“Can I help you?” he asked, trying his best to be cordial.

The man whipped around with a startled gasp. Ah, music to Brian’s ears. He seemed a bit old to be a student, but it was too early to make assumptions like that. Especially since he had the nervous energy of a freshman.

“Uh,” the man stammered out, then straightened his back to look more professional. “Are you Professor, uh… _Doctor_ Brian Wecht?”

Brian cocked an eyebrow. This guy would be fun to mess with, maybe even as fun as Dan. And he was cute too. “That’s what it says by the door, sweetcheeks.”

There, the color rushing into the man’s face and the bug-eyed stare, that was enough to make up for invading Brian’s office. “Um, excuse me?”

“Nothing,” Brian said, skillfully holding back the laughter bubbling in his chest. “Yes, that’s me. Can I help you?”

It took a second for the man to regain his bearings. “I’m Barry Kramer,” he introduced himself, hand outstretched, “and I was hired to make an introductory movie for incoming freshmen. If it’s okay with you. I’d like to interview you on camera.” Suddenly he lost his burst of confidence. Brian could almost hear the air whooshing out of him. “But you don’t have to, of course. I mean, it’d be nice and all. For your students.”

Huh. _For his students_. Well, he couldn’t say no to that. “Alright, fine. Let’s get this show on the road.”

It didn’t take long for Barry to pull the camera of his backpack and get it all set up on the stand. As soon as that was done, he pulled out a notepad no doubt full of questions. Thankfully Brian didn’t have a class that would be cut into.

“Okay,” Barry began, putting on the same, confident tone as before, “if you could give your name and what you teach to start off, that’d be great.”

 _Might as well have some fun_. He stared into the camera with wide, crazy eyes- a practiced look that now came naturally to him. Three parts psychopath, two parts hatred, one part bloodthirst. “Brian Wecht. Theoretical physics.”

“Uh…” Barry was clearly falling victim to The Stare. His cheeks flushed even pinker as he asked, “Now, what do you enjoy most about being a professor?”

Poor kid. He was trying so hard to keep the production value high. Brian dropped the look in favor of a more relaxed, approachable one. “Well, if I had to pick one thing, it would be the look that some students have on their face when they learn something that interests them.”

He could almost picture it, as if it were right in front of him: wide, awed eyes, a half-open smile, head nodding along to every word. Sadly he had yet to see that in his class so far. Either they were too busy scrambling to take notes or they were simply dazed out, minds far away. Oh well.

“It’s indescribable,” he simply finished. No one needed to know his innermost thoughts.

Barry was silent for a moment before he pressed on with the interview. The questions were standard, all things he vaguely remembered answering in the far past, soon after he began to first work at the university. God, how long ago was that?

“Well,” Barry said as he shut off the camera and packed it away, “that’s all I need for now. I might see you again soon, for some follow up stuff.” He gave Brian a small, genuine smile. “Thanks again for doing this.”

 _Wow_. That was a look he wanted to see more often. Warm eyes, soft face, pure joy. But he had an image to keep, and outwardly displaying his oddly sentimental attraction toward this awkward, adorable cameraman would certainly shatter it.

“It’s no problem,” he said, casually crossing his arms and leaning back against his desk. “Anything for my students.”

“Right. Your students.” That carefree expression faded to something a tad more guilty. As he quickly made his way out the door, he gave a wave and a farewell. “Anyway, see you later, Brian!”

 _Well, then_.

* * *

The next day went almost the same as the previous, only Brian was _first_ stepping into his office, coffee in hand to combat the chill of the morning. And there Barry was, back to him, looking at Brian’s shelf. At least he wasn’t messing with anything this time.

Brian would have been lying if he said he hadn’t thought of Barry at all after their little encounter. It was almost like he had a song stuck in his head, his favorite song, and every time he had a moment to himself he’d be consumed by the lyrics and the melody.

And Barry’s voice was very melodic, in its unique way.

“Back again, sweetcheeks?” Cue the gasp, the slight jump, the turn around. How charmingly predictable. Brian let his smug grin loose as he met eyes with Barry. “If you’re looking to marvel at my PhD, I keep it in my desk. Top left drawer.”

“Uh, thanks, but I’ll pass.”

Brian shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “Then what are you here for?”

“Well, you see,” Barry started, and Brian swore he saw him bat his eyelashes, “I wanted to get some footage of you actually doing your job. You know, teaching and all that.”

“Is that so?” He really just wanted to get through the day without any extra hassle, but how could he say no to those sweet eyes? “Alright,” he conceded. “Hurry up so you can get that camera all set before my students roll in.”

There were already a couple students sitting in their respective spots when they made it to the lecture hall. They all gave a mildly curious glance Barry’s way, then went back to steeling themselves for the lecture with their own assorted tonics. Oh, the joy of youth. If only they knew that one day, one of them could very well be in Brian’s place. Seeing reflections of the past every day, relishing just how far they’d made it in life. Pining after someone they’d only met the previous day.

Well, that was probably something they’d already experienced.

“You can just set up in the back,” Brian said, waving a hand to the far side of the room. “Should give you a better vantage point while not being too much of a distraction.”

“Right.” Barry’s tone had an optimistic, go-getter lilt to it as he made his way up the sloped floor. “Wouldn’t want to impede on your student’s learning.”

Really, he’d be more likely to impede on Brian’s teaching. But that didn’t need to be said quite yet. Instead he took the time to finish off his coffee, giving each student that entered a courteous nod. When his drink was all gone, he attempted to free throw the cardboard cup into the trashcan.

It landed a foot away with an anticlimactic _plunk_.

There was a snort of laughter followed by a shout. “Boo!”

Brian turned toward Barry and saw, to his minor embarrassment, that his whole failure had been captured on camera. Barry himself was hiding a shit-eating grin behind his hand.

“You got something to say, Kramer?”

“No, not really.” Barry made a quick adjustment on the camera, then gave Brian a sly look. “I just thought someone with a PhD in physics would be able to get their trash into the can, that’s all.” He maintained his friendly tone, as if he were making a comment about the weather.

A hush swept over the room. Did someone really just backtalk Professor Wecht? The same man that could subdue anyone- _anyone_ , even a Navy SEAL- with The Stare?

Brian didn’t actually mind, despite what his students would think. In fact, he was thrilled that his unassuming crush had a little bite to him. Made the game a lot more fun, and it made Barry a lot more intriguing. But Brian did have an image to keep.

“Being in my lecture hall is a privilege,” he chided. All eyes were on him, as they should be. “If you don’t behave, I’ll throw you out.”

Barry just grinned. “You’d probably miss the door.”

There was a single beat of silence before Brian cut into it with an exclamation of, “Okay, let’s get started!” From there he dove straight into the lecture without mercy in anyone who might have been entertained by Barry’s comment. The way his students scrambled to find and open their notebooks brought joy to his sadistic heart and proved that _he_ had the last laugh.

It wasn’t until the end of the lecture, after Brian had asked for questions from his students, that he snuck a glance at Barry. He certainly seemed more focused on Brian than the camera with those wide eyes, that soft smile, the way he nodded along to every word.

 _Wait_.

“Alright, that’s all the time we have,” Brian announced as he set his chalk aside. It was more for his sake than the students. “Read the next chapter in your textbooks by the time we meet again. Dismissed!”

The relief was palpable as they scrambled out. He heard a comment, “That poor camera guy’s dead, I just know it.” No wonder they were so relieved. They didn’t want to be witnesses to a murder. Brian snickered to himself and began to clear off the board. Poor, gullible students.

“Hey, uh, sorry for the comment earlier,” Barry said from behind him. “I just, you know, I was nervous and I get a little jokey when I’m nervous-”

Brian cut him off before he could ramble and work himself up. “Don’t worry about it. I thought it was pretty funny.”

There was an awkward silence as Brian continued to work at the board. He really wanted to turn around, just to steal a look at Barry. What was he doing? What was he thinking?

“You know, you have an interesting way of standing when you’re lecturing.”

Brian finally gave into temptation and turned halfway. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno, you just, uh…” Barry vainly moved his hands through the air to convey his point. “Like, you always have your hand on your hip, and you also kinda move your hips in this… Sassy way.”

“Sassy,” Brian repeated with a single brow raised.

“Yes!” Barry must’ve thought Brian knew what he was talking about. “You have sassy hips.”

“And you watched my hips long enough to define them as _sassy_.”

“Well,” Barry stammered, face flushed, “I mean, I didn’t _just_ focus on your hips. I was listening to your lecture too- it was pretty interesting. Most of it went over my head, but I still understood some things. And your voice is really nice.”

There was that same expression from yesterday, the genuine delight that made Brian’s usually stone heart just skip a beat. He could feel it spreading through him, the desire to do anything within his power to keep Barry happy. It was a warm, fuzzy feeling, like coffee on a cold morning.

But the joy on Barry’s face faded to worry. “Anyway, I gotta go. Lots of editing to do. Bye, Brian!” And like that, he was gone.

 _Damn it_.

* * *

It took two whole days before Brian saw Barry again. Just as before, he was in Brian’s office before him, turned toward the shelf. He pulled something out of his back pocket- a note?- and set it down right there.

Brian pretended not to notice for the time being. “Back again?” he asked, trying his hardest to keep the excitement out of his voice. “What can I do for you and your movie this time?”

Barry didn’t jump, although he did whip around with a guilty smile on his face. And it looked like he was trying to keep still, to hide the note from Brian. “Uh, well, you see- it’s a funny story, actually.” He forced out a half-hearted chuckle. “The video from the interview got all corrupted, so if we could do it again, that’d be great.”

“You suck at lying.”

If his eyes could get any wider, then they would surely break a world record. “What?”

“You. Suck. At. Lying,” Brian repeated much more slowly with exaggerated enunciation. “I think you’re here just to see me again.”

“Pfft, no.” The look on Barry’s face proved that he didn’t even believe himself. “What would make you think that?”

Brian padded closer and closer, not stopping until he was practically nose to nose with Barry. “Well,” he answered softly, “ _this_ does.”

He then reached behind Barry and grabbed the note of his shelf. Barry’s face immediately went red, but he ignored that in favor of torturously unfolding the paper and reading aloud its contents. _“Dear Professor_ \- cute, you struck that out- _Doctor Brian Wecht, PhD. I don’t really have much to say, since we’ve only seen each other twice and all. But I already found some things that I like about you. Your eyes and the way you can make them look all crazy. They’re a pretty blue.”_

Brian had to pause. No one ever called his eyes pretty before. Crazy, certainly, but never pretty.

“Go on,” Barry said, then swallowed thickly. His face was still pink, but he seemed to be faring a bit better. “Keep reading.”

 _“Your voice.”_ Brian’s tone lost all of its teasing edge. _“I could honestly listen to you talk for hours (which I kinda did- your lectures are long). And you always seem so happy when you talk about things you like. It sounds lame, but I wanna hear you talk more often. Here’s my number. Signed, Barry Kramer. PS: I also like your sassy hips.”_

For once in his life, Brian was absolutely speechless. He expected something along these lines, but being faced with the reality of it somehow made it a lot more surreal. Like he was dreaming. But he quickly snapped out of that haze.

“Now you know,” Barry said with resigned finality. He glanced down at the ground for a brief moment, then looked up at Brian through his lashes. There was a hopeful smile on his face. “So, you’ll call, right?”

Ever the tormentor, Brian simply replied with a drawn out hum, as if he were thinking about it. But he already knew what the answer would be. He knew since their first, fateful meeting.

"Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request given to me by an anon on Tumblr.
> 
> "I am in need of fluffy razzaBrian. Can you help?"


End file.
